Having a good time so far on our visit. We went to Belfast reserve Monday..... yes I know now that the main hide/visitor centre is closed on Monday
oh well at least the roadside hide was accessible and I managed to get a few photos (theres one of a Redshank on my gallery), we saw Redshank, Bar/Blacktailed Godwit, Curlew, Shellduck, plus plenty of Gulls and Teal etc. but the best show was put on by a nice Peregrine diving through the waders. We then went to Oxford Island, but that was a bit of a disappointment (ie no waders, but plenty of ducks but a long way out) but was pleasantly surprised to see Ruddy Ducks.
Yesterday I got a key from Portstewart strand office for the hide at the Barmouth. There we saw a large flock of Golden Plover plus lots of Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Gulls etc.
Today we tried the flats near Limavady. After getting a good ear bending by the local farmers for being on "private land" (we were between the Sea wall and the "moat" just inland from it and parked at the far end by the railway, where the rivers flows in) but they did let us stay, once I explained we were on holiday and bird watching. Plenty of birds on the mud as the tide went out but the best bird was a Merlin we found as we we leaving. It was on the turf fields close to the "T" junction where the road in meets the sea wall tracks about 30 yards from us. It was eating a small bird, and I was able to view it from the car for maybe 30 secs before it carried it's lunch 200 yards across the field and continued eating it.
Going back to Belfast tomorrow so I can hopefully take some more pictures.
Thanks for the tips, Pete